Valve

ABSTRACT

A valve having a disc member which cooperates with the valve seat to perform the valving action, the disc member being characterized by a sail which will be acted upon by fluid in the system to cause rapid and full opening and closing of the valve regardless of the position thereof. The seat and disc members respectively have a complementary frustoconical aperture and a plug portion and the sail is spaced from the seat with the valve in the closed condition.

United States Patent 79,182 6/1868 Ashcroft ..137/469 Wolfson [4 1 *July18, 1972 [54] VALVE 86,162 1:1869 Low; ..137/469 1 Y I 3,018,79 1 1962Brucker ..l37/469 [721 Invent: 1,873,318 8/1932 Eason, Jr. .137/53321[73] Assignee: Bloomfield Valve Corporation, Bloomfield, 3,224,64612/1965 Bruns .137/533.31 V

FOREIGN PATENTS oR APPLICATIONS Notice: The portion of the terin of thispatent sub- 1 sequent to Aug. 10, 1988, has been dis- 927,994 6/1963Great Britain ..137/533.31

claimed. Primary ExaminerRobert G. Nilson [22] Filed. Nov. 25, 1970Atmmeyffishman and va Kirk. [21] Appl. No.: 92,570

' 57 ABSTRACT Related U.S. Application Data J h 1 h A valve aving a discmember whic cooperates with the valve [62] DlVlSlOn of Ser. No. 837,769,June 30, 1969, Pat. No. seat to pert-om the vaMng acfion, the discmember being characterized by a sail which will be acted upon by fluidin the system to cause rapid and full opening and closing 'of the valve(g1 ..l37/469, regardless of the position the-mot. The seat and discmembers I 58] d of Search 137/469 533 21 533 respectively have acomplementary frustoconical aperture and v 5 3 a plug portion and thesail is spaced from the seat with the valve in the closed condition.[56] References Cited I UNITED STATES PATENTS 1 Claim, 2 Drawing Figuresl VALVE CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION BACKGROUND OF THEINVENTION 1. Field of the Invention l The present invention relates tovalves. More particularly,-

the present invention is directed to fast action valves having readilyreplaceable components and being operable in any position Accordingly,the general objects of the present inven'- tion are to provide improvedapparatus of such character.

2. Description of the Prior Art Presently available valves, andparticularly check valves, have one or more inherent deficiencies.Perhaps the most significant of these deficiencies resides in the factthat present valves cannot usually be repaired and repair, whenpossible, requires removal of the valve from the fluid system in whichit is connected. Thus, should the valve seat or plug become erodedthereby causing leakage, it is necessary to perform the time consumingtask of removing and replacing the valve.

Another deficiency found in presently available check valves is, withthe exception of the relatively expensive electro-magnetic devices, isthat the valve will generally not open fully in response to fractionalpressure. Thus, should system pressure drop, present check valves willrespond by adding resistance to the system.

While it has been proposed to employ self-lubricating materials such asTeflon in valves, valves employing such selflubricating materials havegenerally been characterized by metal parts having a coating of thematerial thereon. Such coatings, of course, suffer degradation with timeand use and recoating is generally neither possible nor practical.

A further problem which has characterized prior art valves is that, dueto their design, there is the residual possibility that certain flowconditions can cause canting of the plug member whereby, upon a pressurereversal, the valve will jam rather than close. The possibility of plugcanting becomes particularly acute upon the occurrence of a fractionalpressure condition as discussed above.

While usually giving adequate performance during their comparativelylimited lives, presently available check valves are not characterized byrapid action. In most cases, a spring member or diaphragm maintains thevalve in one operative condition and it is necessary to overcome theforce imposed by the spring or diaphragm when switching to the otheroperative condition. The overcoming of these forces, of course,

takes time thereby limiting the speed of response of present valves.

It is also to be noted that presently available check valves aredesigned for use in a particular environment and are not susceptible tointerchangeable use in both liquid and gas systems. This, of course,presents a distinct disadvantage, particularly when it is desired tosimulate one type of system with another.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention overcomes theabove-discussed disadvantages of the prior art and in so doing providesa valve of novel and improved design. The valve of the present inventioncomprises a body portion which may be fabricated from any metal orplastic as might be determined by the particular application. The valveis further characterized by a seat comprised of a self-lubricatingplastic material. The present valve also comprises a disc member whichcooperates with the seat to produce the valving action. The disc memberis readily removable and also comprised of a self-lubricating plasticmaterial and thus is characterized by light weight. The disc memberconsists of a guide post and a plug which are separated by a sailportion. The surface areas of the sail portion are sufficiently large sothat, coupled with the light weight It is therefore an object of thepresent invention to provide a valve which will operate on fractionalpressure.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a valve whichis incapable of sticking due to canting of the disc member.

It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a 0 checkvalve having faster response than previous devices of such character.

It is still another object of the present invention to provide a valvewhich will operate in any position.

It is also an object of the present invention to provide avalve whichmay be employed in either liquid or gas systems.

. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERREDEMBODIMENT Referring now to FIG. 1, the body of the disclosed preferredembodiment of the check valve of the present'invention is indicatedgenerally at 10. Valve body 10 is provided with internally threadedconnector portions 12 and 14 by which the valve may be connected into afluid flow system. Valve body 10 is also provided with a threadedportion 16 by means of which cap 18 is attached to the valve body. Thepurpose of cap 18 will be discussed in greater detail below. The valvebody will typically be cast from a metal having the desiredcharacteristics taking into account the environment in which it is to beused. Valve body 10 could, of course, also be plastic and the valve bodycould be machined rather than cast.

Internally of valve body 10, a web member 20 extends from one side ofthe valve body adjacent connector portion 12 to the opposite side of thevalve body adjacent connector portion 14. Web member 20 has a holetherein intermediate its ends. Under normal operating conditions, fluidflowing into the valve housing 10 through connector portion 14 will passthrough the hole in web member 20 and leave the valve housing viaconnector portion 12.

An apertured valve seat member, indicated generally at 24, is positionedin the hole in web member 20. Valve seat member 24 will be comprised ofa self-lubricating", high temperature plastic material, Teflon beingpreferable. Teflon seat member 24 is formed by state of the arttechniques so as to have a frustoconical or inwardly tapering internalsurface. Shaping of the valve member in this manner provides maximumseating surface. Tests have shown that the diameter of the smaller endof the aperture in the valve seat 24 shoulder preferably be within theratio of l/2.66 to 1/1 .25 of the diameter of the aperture at the otherside of the seat, a 1:2 ratio being preferred. Since Teflon has acertain degree of resiliency, seat member 24 may be forced throughthehole in web member 20 and thus may be snapped into position in the valvehousing. Removal and replacement of seat 24, if such should becomenecessary, will be described below.

Cooperating with valve seat 24 to perform the valving action is a discmember indicated generally at 32. Disc member 32 has a frustoconicalshaped plug portion 34, a guide post 36 and, intermediate guide post 36and plug 34, a sail member 38. The areas of the exposed upper and lowersurfaces of sail portion 38 are considerably greater than those ofeither the I lubricating high temperature plastic, Teflon again beingpreferred. The shape of plug portion 34 of disc member 32 iscommensurate with that of the aperture in valve seat member 24 and thus,with disc member 32 in the position shown in FIG. 1, the valve will beclosed.

Before further describing the invention, operation of the disclosedpreferred embodiment will be described. When pressure is applied to asystem of which the valve is a part, the pressure source being connectedto connector portion 14 of housing 10, the fluid will act on the bottomof plug member 34 to thereby begin to unseat the plug member from thevalve area 24. As soon as the slightest unseating occurs, the systemfluid will act on the lower surface of sail member 38 and, due to thelight weight of the disc member and the large surface area of the sail,the effect of the fluid on said member 38 will be to cause the valve torapidly open to the position shown in FIG. 2. The large reaction area orsurface presented by sail 38, coupled with the light weight materialfrom which the disc member 32 is constructed, will keep the valve wideopen as long as the pressure differential in the system is in the properdirection. The shape and weight of disc member 32 also has a tendency tokeep vibration to a minimum.

Should there be a reversal of system pressure, such a pressure reversalwill tend to draw disc member 32 back to the closed position. Under thereversed flow or pressure condition, the sail offers a large reactionsurface to fluid in the system and the valve will be closed much morerapidly than would occur in prior art devices of like character. Itshould be noted that, upon closing, the fluid will act on the uppersurface of the sail to keep the plug member forced tightly into valveseat 24.

In the interest of insuring thata tight seal will always be achievedwith the valve in the closed position, even though there may be somewear of either valve seat member 24 or plug member 34, the embodiment ofFIGS. 1 and 2 is characterized by a floating seat. Restated, the valveseat 24 of FIGS. 1 and 2 is free to move a limited distance along theflow path of fluid passing through the valve and is also free to rotateexcept when the valve is in the fully closed position.

Seat member .24 is-provided with a lower flange portion 30 which engagesthe lower surface of web member-20 of the valve body when fluid isflowing through the valve; flange 30 thereby preventing fluid pressurefrom causing disengagement of the seat from the web member. With thevalve in the closed position, as shown in FIG. 1 and as will bedescribed in greater detail below, flange 30 will be spaced fromthelower surface of web member 20. I

The intermediate portion 26 of the valve seat'member 24 of theembodiment of FIGS. 1 and 2 has a tapered outer wall and the walls ofthe passage in web member 20 are provided with a complementary taper. Itis also to be noted that the width of intermediate portion 26 of thevalve seat is greater than the width of web member 20. The size of thepassage in web member 20 and the exterior dimensions of seat 24 areselected so that, with the valve in the open position as shown in FIG.2, seat member 24 may rotate and is free to move along the flow pathuntil flange portion 30 contacts the lower surface of web member 20. n

It is to be noted that the guide post portion 36 of the disc member isat all times received in a channel 60 formed in cap 18. Cap 18 isprovided with relief passages 62 so as to enable fluid flow throughchannel 60 to wash past stem 36 to keep the stem clean and free inchannel 60. The large chamber 64 in the valve body upstream of the valveseat provides for extra volume for full flow.

As previously noted, a deliberate gap which has been left between theflange 30 on the valve seat and the lower part of web member 20 of thevalve body with the valve closed. This gap permits limited movement ofseat 24 and thus provides enhanced wear capability whereby good seatingis obtained even though the face of the plug portion 34 or seal member24 is wearing. Restated, by permitting limited movement of the valveseat 24 in the direction of movement of plug member 34,

in addition to allowing for rotation of seat member 24, a condition isobtained wherein the two movable members will always assume a positionrelative to one another which insures good seating when the plug member34 is wedged into the seat member 24 and thereby in turn wedges the seatmember into the walls of the passage in web member 20. It isparticularly to be noted that the embodiment of FIGS. 1 and 2 does notrely upon contact between the lower surface of sail member 38 and anupper surface of the seat member to enhance sealing.

Should either the valve seat 24 or disc member 32 become worn ordamaged, replacement thereof, without disconnecting the valve from thefluid system, is accomplished merely by unscrewing cap 18 therebypermitting access to the interior of the valve. Should it be desired toreplace the valve seat, it may either be cut out or pulled free by meansof a tool designed for that purpose. The old seat will then be discardedand a new valve seat snapped into position. Since they are formed from aplastic material, the valve seat and disc members are relativelyinexpensive and thus replacement thereof is economically sound. Thevalve body, which is the most expensive element of the valve, will havean indefinite life in the present invention.

It should be noted that, due to the light weight and the particularconfiguration of disc member 32, the valve of the present invention maybe employed in both liquid and gas systems and the valve will operate inany position. The ability to operate in any position is a direct resultof the fact that the valve has only a single moving part which iscontrolled solely and operated fully by the system pressuredifferential.

While a preferred embodiment has been shown and described, variousmodifications and substitutions may be made thereto without departingfrom the spirit and scope of the present invention. Accordingly, it isto be understood that the present invention has been described byway ofillustration and not limitation.

What is claimed is: l. A valve including: a body portion, said bodyportion defining a chamber and channel defining means extending intosaid chamber;

means in said body portion chamber for supporting a valve seat member,said supporting means including an aperture;

a plastic valve seat member having an aperture passing therethroughwhich defines-a frustoconical seating surface, said plastic memberfurther having an outer surface defining portion having an externalshape complementary to the shape of the aperture in said supportingmeans and having a flange extending outwardly from at least one endthereof, said flange having a size and shape sufficient to retain saidplastic member in the aperture in said supporting means; and

a disc member cooperating with said plastic member to effect valvingaction, said disc member having a frustoconical plug portion forengaging said plastic member seating surface, a sail member and a guidepost, thediameter of said plug portion of said disc member along thelength thereof varying uniformly from a first end of smaller diameterthan the largest diameter of said seating surface to a second end oflarger diameter than the largest diameter of said seating surface, saidsail member extending transversely of the axis of said plug portion froma location along said plug portion of larger diameter than the largestdiameter of said seating surface, said guide post extending from thelarger diameter end-of and co-axially of said plug portion, said guidepost extending into and being movable in said channel defining meanswhereby said disc member is axially movable between a first closedposition and an open position, said frustoconical plug engaging saidfrustoconical seating surface to solely seal said valve in said closedposition and said sail being spaced from said plastic member in saidclosed position, said disc member being free to rotate about its axisunder the influence of fluid flowing through said valve with the valvein said open position.

, a: a n a

1. A valve including: a body portion, said body portion defining achamber and channel defining means extending into said chamber; means insaid body portion chamber for supporting a valve seat member, saidsupporting means including an aperture; a plastic valve seat memberhaving an aperture passing therethrough which defines a frustoconicalseating surface, said plastic member further having an outer surfacedefining portion having an external shape complementary to the shape ofthe aperture in said supporting means and having a flange extendingoutwardly from at least one end thereof, said flange having a size andshape sufficient to retain said plastic member in the aperture in saIdsupporting means; and a disc member cooperating with said plastic memberto effect valving action, said disc member having a frustoconical plugportion for engaging said plastic member seating surface, a sail memberand a guide post, the diameter of said plug portion of said disc memberalong the length thereof varying uniformly from a first end of smallerdiameter than the largest diameter of said seating surface to a secondend of larger diameter than the largest diameter of said seatingsurface, said sail member extending transversely of the axis of saidplug portion from a location along said plug portion of larger diameterthan the largest diameter of said seating surface, said guide postextending from the larger diameter end of and co-axially of said plugportion, said guide post extending into and being movable in saidchannel defining means whereby said disc member is axially movablebetween a first closed position and an open position, said frustoconicalplug engaging said frustoconical seating surface to solely seal saidvalve in said closed position and said sail being spaced from saidplastic member in said closed position, said disc member being free torotate about its axis under the influence of fluid flowing through saidvalve with the valve in said open position.